JD 5020 repower question

Just doing a little research of vintage tractors and had some questions. I've read magazine articles and followed up on it with internet posts and have found quite a few 5020s that have been repowerd with Cummins or Detroit diesels as well as 619s along with a fair amount of 6030s repowerd with 619s. My question is, was the 531 deemed inadequate in these tractors in any way or were guys simply putting bigger engines in for more hp. It sounds like Kinze was putting 318s in 5020s in the late sixties early 70s when they were nearly new

We had a neighbor that bought a new 5020 and had Kinze put in a Detroit 318 brand new. He was that kind of guy. My brother plowed with it a couple days. 8 bottoms in heavy soil made it scream - literally! What a beast for that time period!

5010/5020 were originally designed to pull earthmover pan scrapers for the construction market, so their power train was overbuilt compared to the other large farm tractors of that day. That made them better suited to re-powering with more HP for farm work.

I've never seen one, but I've heard 8V-71 re-powers of 5010s and 5020s were fairly common back in the day. As others said, the 5010/5020 power train is pretty much bulletproof. I'm sure the hours I spent on a cab-equipped 5010 took a good portion of my hearing; I wouldn't want to sit behind a screaming Detroit all day.

There were several 318 Detroit powered 5010/5020's that made the rounds to County Fair tractor pulls in
eastern Iowa and NW Illinois. Few guys even had big Detroits put in their 4020's to pull with.
Would have been in the mid 1970's two brothers I knew bought a pair of non-running 318 powered 5010/5020's,
last I knew they never got them running.
Maybe it's just me but a 903 CUMMINS is a better repower into a 5020, not near as noisey and still the
same power as a 318 8V-71, 903 is 320 hp. Trucking Co I drove for had lots of 6V-92 powered trucks, typically
300-307 hp but the racket they make is head-splitting. A big in-line 6 cyl Cummins like a 350 is harder to fit
in a 5020 but easier to make livable noise-wise.

I worked on a 5020 with a 318 Detroit at a JD dealer in the early 90's. This was in North Central Wisconsin, so this was a huge
tractor for this area. The owner loved the tractor but said that the engine was so snappy that if you goosed it several times to
show off in the yard it would break off the axle housing. He didn't elaborate on how he knew that. Steve.

The 5020 with a M@W turbo would put out 150 HP on the dyno, big deal, seen it with my own eyes, but it wasnt really any to much, but they had the weight and tires to use more, and Kinze was the man to do it,There was one 5020 repower in out neighbor hood,he pulled 8-16 easy,if you could tolerate the noise,but when Versatile and other came with the 800 and 850 tractors the 5020 got traded for them!

A 5020 was a big 4020 handled just as easy except not
a synchronized transmission. Pulled a 5 shank ripper
with one the whole 4020 will run with a 5020 is bs . If
the 5020 had 10,000 hours and the 4020 had a fresh
ending engine with high compression pistons ya it
would .
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5010-first production tractor over 100 HP.--people said wow--5020 about the same. 6030--Deere got it together--Turbo-Intercooler-In-line model p-injection pump--better cooling--rated at 175 HP. but of
course with a 10 mm. wrench the HP. was almost unlimited--would run all day at over 200 HP. I had a 5010 with a add on turbo--could not keep it cool going with the wind under load--was set at 150 HP.
I have no idea how much a new 6030/7520 engine would cost from Deere but maybe the cost was a lot more than a V-6 or 8-71 Detroit. In the early 90's I found a Deere 8630 with a bad motor and checked
with my Kinze dealer about putting a 855 Cummins in it and if I remember it was right at $29,000 so I bought a used Steiger ST-250 on a consignment sale for $14,250...The 619 is a very good motor-In a
excavator or chopper-they will run forever--but got a bad reputation in the tractor. If you ever saw a 8630 frame laying on the floor you would be amazed how thin they are. The worst thing you could do
is put a dozer on them and run over something so the axle goes stop to stop--It would flex the block and drop a sleeve. Deeres answer was to put more webbing in the block in the 50 series-was a poor
band-aid-they got it right with the 60 series-went component-problem solved.--That's all---Tee

Son's 8630 with a Commings 855 big cam in it--pull tractor

Restored 6030 at state fair--NOT mine--wished it was

Turboed 5010--My Dad rented a farm where the last renter got stuck combining beans-told my towm girl wife to work the tracks shut and she got a little close-got two inches of rain that night.

A 5020 does have a synchronized transmission,
I've put synchros in them. A later 531 with
the p pump or 619 will bolt in but the
problems start from there. The front of that
engine poses some problems, the balancer is
much larger, water pump is different as well
as the radiator. Luckily I found some 6030
tractor pullers that I was able to get a
radiator, hydraulic pump support, plus other
misc components. The front bolster needs a
considerable amount of grinding so that
balancer will fit. Those engines are big but
I dare say not the most durable. Every 531-
619 engine I encounter gets line honed, block
decked and counter bores recut. As stated the
block from the articulated tractors get a lot
of stress put on them.

Around here the 903 was called The 90 nothing---

i went with a friend to Milledgeville Il to Meyers and Litwiller John deere dealer they had what I remember 4020 powershift with 903 Cummings in used tractor lot dauls on it were almost smooth. I would think lots of wheel spin.

A 619 with an oil pressure Murphy Alarm is fine . Good for 300HP all day .

So, were guys unhappy with the original 531 that they repowerd them right away or why did they not rebuild or " turn up" the juice on what they had? And what happened to all the 531s that got replaced?

This one is good for 2500 to 3000 HP. for 11 seconds!!